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    <title>ShellCheck: SC2071 – `>` is for string comparisons. Use `-gt` instead.</title>
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    <h1>SC2071 – ShellCheck Wiki</h1>
    <a href="https://github.com/koalaman/shellcheck/wiki/SC2071">See this page on GitHub</a>
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    <h2 id="-is-for-string-comparisons-use--gt-instead"><code>&gt;</code> is
for string comparisons. Use <code>-gt</code> instead.</h2>
<h3 id="problematic-code">Problematic code:</h3>
<div class="sourceCode" id="cb1"><pre class="sourceCode sh"><code class="sourceCode bash"><span id="cb1-1"><a href="SC2071.html#cb1-1" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="cf">if</span> <span class="kw">[[</span> <span class="va">$var</span> <span class="ot">&gt;</span> 10 <span class="kw">]]</span></span>
<span id="cb1-2"><a href="SC2071.html#cb1-2" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="cf">then</span></span>
<span id="cb1-3"><a href="SC2071.html#cb1-3" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a>  <span class="bu">echo</span> <span class="st">&quot;Incorrectly triggers when var=5&quot;</span></span>
<span id="cb1-4"><a href="SC2071.html#cb1-4" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="cf">fi</span></span></code></pre></div>
<h3 id="correct-code">Correct code:</h3>
<div class="sourceCode" id="cb2"><pre class="sourceCode sh"><code class="sourceCode bash"><span id="cb2-1"><a href="SC2071.html#cb2-1" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="cf">if</span> <span class="kw">[[</span> <span class="va">$var</span> <span class="ot">-gt</span> 10 <span class="kw">]]</span></span>
<span id="cb2-2"><a href="SC2071.html#cb2-2" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="cf">then</span></span>
<span id="cb2-3"><a href="SC2071.html#cb2-3" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a>  <span class="bu">echo</span> <span class="st">&quot;Correct numerical comparison&quot;</span></span>
<span id="cb2-4"><a href="SC2071.html#cb2-4" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="cf">fi</span></span></code></pre></div>
<h3 id="rationale">Rationale:</h3>
<p><code>&lt;</code> and <code>&gt;</code>, in both <code>[[</code> and
<code>[</code> (when escaped) will do a lexicographical comparison, not
a numerical comparison.</p>
<p>This means that <code>[[ 5 &gt; 10 ]]</code> is true because 5 comes
after 10 alphabetically. Meanwhile <code>[[ 5 -gt 10 ]]</code> is false
because 5 does not come after 10 numerically.</p>
<p>If you want to compare numbers by value, use the numerical comparison
operators <code>-gt</code>, <code>-ge</code>, <code>-lt</code> and
<code>-le</code>.</p>
<h3 id="exceptions">Exceptions:</h3>
<p>If the strings happen to be version numbers and you're using &lt;, or
&gt; to compare them as strings, and you consider this an acceptable
thing to do, then you can ignore this warning.</p>
<h3 id="related-resources">Related resources:</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashPitfalls#pf7">Bash
Pitfalls: <code>[[ $foo &gt; 7 ]]</code></a></li>
<li><a
href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/18668556/comparing-numbers-in-bash">StackOverflow:
Comparing numbers in Bash</a></li>
</ul>
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